


Diagnosis

by GretchenSinister



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:29:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: Original Prompt: "So I was thinking about Jack’s visibility problem when I remembered this series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translucent_(manga), where the heroine has a condition called “Translucent Syndrome” where a person with that sydrome becomes mostly, or in some cases entirely, see-through. Maybe Jack is only partially translucent, maybe he’s entirely translucent, maybe it’s on a cycle where he’s more visible at certain points of the month than others, you decide. Preferrably gen, but if you see a pairing working with this: go for it."Starts out as a modern human AU, does not end that way. Something happens to Jack that seems to cure him–this is not exactly true.





	Diagnosis

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr 7/28/2013.
> 
> I have not read the manga mentioned in the prompt.

Translucent Syndrome: It’s a description, not a diagnosis, at least in Jack’s opinion. So what if his problem has a name? It doesn’t make him better. It doesn’t make him easier to see. Whatever does that still eludes his doctors. They use words like “idiopathic”, and at appointments they caution Jack and his mother against hope. Despite any sudden resurgences in visibility Jack may experience, he’s still going to end up completely see-through. When? Jack had asked, but the doctors couldn’t say. The condition was very rare, after all. Only a handful of cases had ever been diagnosed. If the symptoms weren’t so unique, even Jack might have been misdiagnosed.  
  
 _Which would have made such a big difference,_  he thinks.   
  
Apart from gradually becoming invisible, Jack feels fine. He eats and drinks like any other teenager, and outgrows his clothes like one. (If a t-shirt and jeans walking around with no apparent arms or head for accompaniment disturb some people, he can’t help that.) The only thing that really bothers him is the way people try to see him when he can’t be seen, and act like it’s his fault somehow that he’s translucent.  
  
He starts to spend more time at home. At least there, even if his family doesn’t know what’s happening to him in a way that could actually change his situation, they know what’s happening to him in a way that has long ago passed any stage of freaking out.  
  
Still, he notices that it’s easy for them to forget to talk to someone whose face they can’t see.  
  
Within all of this, his greatest comfort turns out to be his little sister Emma. She still always wants to hang out with him, she still gives him plenty of hugs, understanding that just because he’s invisible doesn’t mean he’s intangible. Or maybe not understanding—she is very young—but never linking those concepts in the first place. With Emma, he may be invisible, but he’s always there.  
  
One day, in early spring, Jack gets out of bed, not feeling so great. It’s been months since he was last visible, even a little bit, and he’s starting to think that his Translucent Syndrome has finally run its course, leaving him this way permanently.  
  
He can’t stay in his bad mood for long though, especially when Emma knocks excitedly on his door, saying that they have to go ice skating today—it’s probably the last chance they’ll have till next winter! Never wanting to disappoint her, he gets ready. He doesn’t bother with heavy clothes. Even though the ice is still there, the air is getting pretty warm.  
  
When he falls through the ice—and Emma doesn’t, thank God—he realizes his choice of clothing might be a problem. No one’s going to be able to see his head or hands to help get him out. He’s angry his last thought is about his disease, and then he isn’t anything but afraid. Soon after that, he isn’t anything.  
  
When he comes to, he discovers with a rush of excitement that he can see himself again. Somehow, the icy water must have cured him!  
  
Upon returning to town, he finds that he isn’t cured at all. And he realizes even a diagnosis would be helpful information, but as far as he can tell, that answer will be a long time coming. 


End file.
